China's CNOOC faces all-out lobbying effort to win US oil firm

China National Offshore Oil Corp. is learning the intricate arts of Washington lobbying in its bid to overcome fierce political resistance to its bid to take over US oil major Unocal. The state-owned CNOOC, China's third-biggest oil company, faces an uphill battle to win over US lawmakers aghast at the prospect of a communist-owned entity grabbing a slice of the sensitive US energy industry. But it's leaving nothing to chance in the battle for congressional hearts and minds as it vies to fend off a rival bid for Unocal from US oil giant Chevron. Unocal shareholders are set to vote on the competing bids on August 10, but the company's board wants to stay in bed with Chevron in preference to the Chinese interloper. CNOOC chief executive Fu Chengyu, a fluent English speaker with a master's degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Southern California, has written to members of Congress outlining why the takeover bid is a good idea.

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OK, quick point of notice: Interloper? Fluent? Just wondering.